Mac Jones moves the safety, but A.J. Terrell is lurking for the interception

A.J. Terrell read Mac Jones perfectly for a big interception on Thursday night against the New England Patriots.

Playing quarterback often requires quarterbacks to move defenders with their eyes. The ability of a quarterback to manipulate a defender out of position, and then make a strong, accurate throw to an open receiver, is something that separates the great quarterbacks from the good ones.

But every once in a while, you might accomplish that goal of moving a defender, only to have another player in the secondary make you pay.

That happened to Mac Jones in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons:

The New England Patriots line up for this first down play using 22 offensive personnel. New England has fullback Jakob Johnson and tight end Hunter Henry in a wing alignment on the left, and fellow tight end Jonnu Smith is aligned in the slot on the right. N’Keal Harry, who has taken on more of a blocking role, is aligned outside on the right.

Everything pre-snap indicates that Patriots are going to run the football.

But instead they dial up a play-action concept, with four receivers releasing vertically. Johnson and Harry run out-and-up routes to the outside, while the two tight ends release vertically up the seams.

Jones does a good job using his eyes to move the safety in the middle of the field towards Henry, before coming to the right side and targeting Smith up the seam. With a single-high safety, this is what the quarterback is looking to accomplish. Move the safety in the middle of the field to one of the inside seam routes, and throw the other.

The problem? Cornerback A.J. Terrell. He is covering Harry on his double-move, but he does a very good job of splitting the difference between both Smith and Harry, staying in position to play both routes. As he does this, Terrell keeps his eyes on Jones. So while the quarterback is moving the safety in the middle of the field, Terrell is ready to pounce.

So when Jones flips his eyes to the right to pick up Smith on the seam, Terrell does that, stepping in front of the throw for the interception.

The Falcons were looking for a big spark, and they finally got one thanks to Terrell’s great job of using his own eyes.